We need new terms for DMF and Vanilla Action Hero.

[Ravengm]

I like Smurf and Knot Cutter.

[RobbyPants]

Again if Smurf on its own is too easily confused, pick a specific smurf.

Like "Weakling Smurf".

"The problem with our PC party is that it consists of a Superman, a Gandalf, a Kung Fu Napoleon and a Weakling Smurf."

Melee smurf? Combat smurf? I'm at a loss for a good name, but the concept seems to support what you're talking about: a smurf with a narrow niche that's useless outside of it.

[Prak]

Smurf and Knot-cutter are good to me too. Though the problem with knot cutter is that cutting the gordian knot actually worked, but the [DMF] isn't actually able to solve every problem by just swording (or whatever), and the epithet of knot cutter implies it can. Hammer might be better, along the old saying of "when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail", because it doesn't imply success in this situation.

There's also the fact that this kind of character can crop up in any game. In Runequest you can run into it if you too narrowly build your characters skills, which, unfortunately, you almost have to do. When your only skill above 60% is summoning demons, by fuckery, you better be able to solve every problem with a phone call to Hell.

[Winnah]

Smurf and Knot-cutter are good to me too. Though the problem with knot cutter is that cutting the gordian knot actually worked, but the [DMF] isn't actually able to solve every problem by just swording (or whatever), and the epithet of knot cutter implies it can. Hammer might be better, along the old saying of "when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail", because it doesn't imply success in this situation.

There's also the fact that this kind of character can crop up in any game. In Runequest you can run into it if you too narrowly build your characters skills, which, unfortunately, you almost have to do. When your only skill above 60% is summoning demons, by fuckery, you better be able to solve every problem with a phone call to Hell.

Sort of what I was thinking. 'Cut it in half' is not always the answer to every problem. But for the DMF, "Cut it in half?" is always the question. Their answer is typically yes because the alternative means doing nothing.

I like Lemming. Or Punchy Smurf

[fectin]

"Smurf" is not meaningful to me.
Not a criticism, just a datapoint.

[the_taken]

Speshul Smurf

[Prak]

Fighty Smurf
Boring Smurf

[Count Arioch the 28th]

No, it's terrible, because mentioning that word randomly makes this place just like the Paizil boards.

...why?

Have you ever read their forums? Hint: They randomly use that word. A lot. They even have something coded into their board software to encourage such trolling. I am not fucking kidding.

If you either do something because someone you hate doesn't do it, or you don't do something because someone you hate does it, you are basically letting someone you hate dictate your life for you.

[fectin]

If you either do something because someone you hate doesn't do it, or you don't do something because someone you hate does it, you are basically letting someone you hate dictate your life for you.

You mean like how we don't use swastikas, racial epithets, or or funny hooded robes? Not that anything here is that extreme, but distaste for something purely from associations is still perfectly valid.

Also, you (generally, not you specifically) can improve yourself by observing irritating behaviors in others and working to not do those things. That is directly allowing something you hate to dictate your life, and you and your surroundings are better off because of it.

[Prak]

actually, usually those aren't used out of a desire to avoid mis-association. I know the true meaning behind swastikas, and I typically don't give a shit about offensive language, but I avoid swastika-like symbols and racial epithets because I don't want to be seen as a neo-nazi or racist. Hell, I love the Get of Fenris tribe in WtA, but I avoid using their symbol for anything because it's too similar to a swastika, and there are norse symbols with similar issues. I only use racial epithets to, essentially, troll someone, because I want to piss them off and I know that for a lot of people that's a good shortcut to pissing them off. I try to limit the use to discrete arenas, however.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

I think not using a symbol because you aren't associated with it is different than not using it because you hate it. I'm not a Nazi, so I don't use a swastika symbol any more than I would use a masonic symbol, or wear a Little Orphan Annie decoder ring. It's not because I hate someone, it's because I'm not a member of any of those societies.

And in some cases, wearing a symbol that you aren't affiliated with can get your legs broke.

[Prak]

I think not using a symbol because you aren't associated with it is different than not using it because you hate it. I'm not a Nazi, so I don't use a swastika symbol any more than I would use a masonic symbol, or wear a Little Orphan Annie decoder ring. It's not because I hate someone, it's because I'm not a member of any of those societies.

And in some cases, wearing a symbol that you aren't affiliated with can get your legs broke.

That too. Rather the reason that, as much as I wanted one when I was Asatru, I wouldn't get a volknut tattoo. Even then, I wasn't devoted to Odin, so why wear a symbol that said I was.

However, I doubt using the word smurf is going to get any paizoans here, much less to break our legs. If anything it'll just confuse a number of people with odd tastes in porn.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

I flirted with Norse paganism for a while, but didn't want people to think I was a Nazi. Lots of Nazis into norse and germanic paganism. Besides, my spiritual journey ended with me learning that it's all the same, boring crap and that my time would be better spent in a bar (Remarkably similar to the Metalocalypse episode when William Murderface decided to become religious).

[fectin]

Oh man. You left before the summoning too? You and Murderface totally missed out.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Trivia fact: The priest at the Church of Satan in that episode was voiced by Marilyn Manson.

[fectin]

News, but not shocking. Him and Ozzy seem pretty much awesome all around.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Eh, to be honest I've always considered Marilyn Manson to be the musical equivalent to Tom Green.

"Look at me, I'm wearing a bodysuit with boobs on it! Isn't that WEIRD?!"

Yeah, it was shocking for the time, but when musicians were burning down churches in Scandinavia at that time, it loses a bit of impact.

[FatR]

Actually Lago, another problem with your definition is that it encompasses both one-trick characters (Smurf Heroes) and plot-coddled characters (I don't know... Screentime Entitled Heroes), and these do not necessarily intersect. JLA Batman actually has a lot of tricks, just none of them are useful for the team. Most shonen protagonists just fight people and destroy stuff, and all too often they are One-Trick Fighters, but as, let's be honest, challenges that do not boil down to that* or mundane communication skills appear very rarely in most shonen series, they are still in the same boat as the rest of the cast and do not need the plot bending over to give them things to do.

*Movement and perception abilities necessary to get to the standard enemies still are parts of the fighting people, if fighting is the only common situation where they are actually needed.

[Roy]

Likening the use of that word by the Paizils to the use of nazi symbolism in the real world isn't as far off as you think. Still not the same thing, but in both cases you have people doing stupid things to deliberately offend, and others shunning association with those things and anything related.

So yes, saying this place would become just like the Paizil board is completely accurate.

[FatR]

Roy, no one cares about your butthurt.

[Username17]

Actually Lago, another problem with your definition is that it encompasses both one-trick characters (Smurf Heroes) and plot-coddled characters (I don't know... Screentime Entitled Heroes), and these do not necessarily intersect. JLA Batman actually has a lot of tricks, just none of them are useful for the team.

That is a good point. Every one-note hero is a screen entitlement hero by definition. But it's entirely possible to be a character with diverse abilities and motivational depth and still be a screen entitlement hero if your abilities are substantially weaker than those of the rest of the team or your abilities are out of genre.

A character being a brutally effective ninja assassin is going to need the plot to wrap itself in pretzels to get you any screen time if the rest of the show is basically Gilmore Girls. A character who is a a brutally effective ninja assassin is going to need the plot to tie itself in pretzels again if the rest of the team are the fucking Justice League and Wonder Woman doesn't wipe her ass with enemies that have mere assault rifles.

This might actually be a good time to bring up different Smurfs. Justice League Batman can be "Lazy Smurf" - a character whose schtick is that they have no business competing at the level of the rest of the characters and are therefore demanding that the rest of the team get stealth neutered or the MC ties the plot in knots so their tiny contribution "matters". Wolverine in the G-Rated X-Men comics and cartoons gets to be "Captain Smurf" - a character whose abilities are completely useless in the normal expected progression of the story (Claws? In a show where you can't draw blood?). And finally, characters who are simply couterproductive or explicitly disruptive get to be named "Jokey Smurf".

-Username17

[Niles]

Every one-note hero is a screen entitlement hero by definition.

Noone cares if cooking is your only skill if the show is Iron Chef.

[Username17]

Every one-note hero is a screen entitlement hero by definition.

Noone cares if cooking is your only skill if the show is Iron Chef.

That's a different issue entirely. If you're in Iron Chef land, there isn't even a skill called "cooking". There are skills like "French Sauce Theory" and "Puff Pastry Combinations".

Similarly, in CSI land, there is no skill called "Detective". You have to get specializations like "Laboratory DNA Testing" or "Ballistics".

If you're in a hyper-specialized story field, characters don't qualify as being one-noters if they have abilities that are within that field.

-Username17

[Roy]

Roy, no one cares about your butthurt.

Go fuck yourself, and stop whining.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

I like Hammer, because not only are most obstacles not nails, but you could have a peen when you need a claw, proving oneself even more useless. The Gordian names aren't bad, either.